THREE young burglars have been sentenced for breaking into shops in the town centre.

Bolton Youth Court heard how they targeted two shops in one road and two in another as part of a spate of night time break-ins in the run up to Christmas.

The group took confectionary worth £10 from sandwich shop The Buttery and left empty-handed from the now-closed Sweetens Book Store, both on Deansgate.

They stole jewellery and cash worth £349 from Exclusive Lighting and a camera and cash worth £118 from the British Heart Foundation charity shop, both in Knowsley Street.

The three defendants admitted four counts of burglary on December 9 and were sentenced at Bolton Youth Court on Wednesday.

Jack Sykes, aged 18, of Harpurhey, Manchester, and previously of Pool Street, Halliwell, was sentenced to six months in a young offenders institution for each offence.

Bolton Magistrates called the trail of destruction a 'pre-planned rampage' that involved 'joint enterprise'.

They were perturbed that a charity shop had been targeted and said there had been "unnecessary damage caused to businesses".

A 17-year-old accomplice from Bolton, who cannot be named for legal reasons, received a six-month detention and training order for each offence, to run concurrently.

The juvenile defendant committed the burglaries while already subject to an existing detention and training order.

A second 17-year-old, from Wigan, who also cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced to a six-month detention and training order.

He had admitted a fifth count of possession of a bread knife, in Pool Street, Bolton, on the same evening as the break-ins.

A 16-year-old from Blackpool, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is due back before the same court on January 27 to be sentenced for yet another series of burglaries.

He was part of a group that smashed their way into Poundstretcher in Knowsley Street and a stole a charity box containing £30, broke in but left empty-handed from Barnardo's charity shop in Newport Street and stole the till containing £50 from Faye's Barbers and took £500 in stock from Toy and Gift Co, both in Corporation Street.